Of Independence and Toilets

We made our traditional 3 block trek to Powderhorn Park for the 4th of July fireworks. I really, really like going there. Powderhorn is a 65 acre park smack dab in the middle of South Minneapolis. It is a big bowl with a small lake on the south side of park. On the 4th, thousands of people gather with their blankets on the hillsides to enjoy the show. The fireworks themselves are no great shakes. It's a nice display, but the Parks and Recreation Department doesn't bust the budget to put on a teevee worthy spectacle. What I like about it is that it is the one time of the year when lots of different people from around the city gather for one purpose. It's a great big melting pot. Different languages are spoken, there was a drumming group pounding away to one side, people of all ages, races and religions are all togther for one evening to celebrate and watch fireworks. It's the part of America that I'm proud of. Afterwords we adjourn to some long time friends house for root beer floats and more chit-chat. As I was walking home with the girls (TOYH skipped the show because she had to work the next morning) KyKy remarked that it was really smokey outside. It was true. There was a suphurous haze hanging over the neighborhood. It was a sticky night with absolutely no wind so the smoke from the fireworks was going nowhere. It wasn't just the Powderhorn pyrotechnics that was polluting the air. In our neighborhood it seems like everyone and their donkey makes the trip to 'Sconny to stock up on illeagal fireworks, and then they treat us to the amature hour(s) until they run out of crap to blow up. That part of the 4th I could do without. It was a bit different this year though. In the past, we would usually get a good week and a half to two weeks of Independence Day celebrations. The enconomy must be bad or something because people only bought enough to shoot their wad on the 4th. It was pretty quiet in the days leading up to The Day, and very quiet tonight. It was the same for Cinco de Mayo. In years past we'd get plenty of whistling and popping going on, but all was quiet on the Southside front this year.

Earlier in the day we all hopped on our bikes and rode out to St Louis Park to spend the afternoon with TOYH's brother and his family. As she was fixing her hair in the downstairs bathroom, she was dripped on. Sure enough, the ceiling was dripping from the upstairs bathroom. Sigh. This isn't the first problem we've had up there. We've already ripped out and replaced part of the ceiling from a leaky toilet this year. We thought everything was fixed. This time, I was able to isolate problem to the hose leading to the tank. The hose is new and didn't seem to be the problem. Now I know from past experience that when fixing a toilet, one needs to make a minimum of three trips to the hardware store to get the right stuff. I started to work on it after getting home from Test Equipment World Domination Headquarters, but I only had time to make one trip to the store. I pressed my luck and thought I could get by with a new wrench and a gasket. Stupid me. The gasket didn't do the trick. The next trip will be for a new intake valve and float assembly. By the time I get done, we'll probably have a whole new toilet replaced part by part up there. Yipee.